"of day at which Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu fled following the revolution, 12:08 pm on 22 December 1989. The original Romanian title roughly translates to ""Was There or Wasn't There?"", referring to the film's central issue: did Vaslui have any part in the 1989 revolution? The answer depends on whether the city registered any protest before the moment of Ceauşescu's flight. The American review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 95% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 44 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 77 out of 100, based on 15 reviews. The film"
"Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was a short trial held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of the Council of the National Salvation Front, resulting in the death sentence and execution of former Romanian President and Romanian Communist Party General Secretary, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu. Marked by irregularities that are typical of kangaroo courts and show trials, the main charge was genocide—namely, murdering ""over 60,000 people"" during the revolution in Timișoara. Other sources put the death toll between 689"
"free"". Accompanying his personal charisma, Sankara had an array of original initiatives that contributed to his popularity and brought some international media attention to his government: Sankara is often referred to as ""Africa's Che Guevara"". Sankara gave a speech marking and honoring the 20th anniversary of Che Guevara's 9 October 1967 execution, one week before his own assassination on 15 October 1987. On 15 October 1987, Sankara was killed by an armed group with twelve other officials in a coup d'état organised by his former colleague Blaise Compaoré. Deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries was one of the reasons given,"
"1988, the Supreme Court of Albania's communist judges consisting of Fehmi Abdiu, Vili and Fatmira Laskaj Robo rejected Lavdie Nela's appeal against her husband's death sentence. Those behind this felt it was a good opportunity to make an example out of Havzi Nela. They built a contraption in the middle of the town of Kukës where he would be hanged publicly. The death penalty was signed by Ramiz Alia and Kristaq Rama, the father of Albania's current Prime Minister, Edi Rama On August 10, 1988, at 02:00 am, he was executed. After being exposed all day on August 10, 1988,"
"Timișoara and Bucharest, and brought about the fall of Ceauşescu and the end of the Communist regime in Romania. After a weeklong state of unrest in Timişoara, a mass rally summoned in Bucharest in support of Ceauşescu on 21 December 1989 turned hostile. The Ceauşescu couple, fleeing Bucharest by helicopter, ended up in the custody of the army. After being tried and convicted by a kangaroo court for genocide and other crimes, they were executed on 25 December 1989. The events of this revolution remain to this day a matter of debate, with many conflicting theories as to the motivations"
"8 June 1989, when Štefan Svitek was hanged in Bratislava prison for triple murder; in today's Czech Republic the last executed person was Vladimír Lulek, hanged on 2 February 1989 in Pankrác Prison for murder of his wife and four children. The last person sentenced to death was Zdeněk Vocásek, but his sentence was changed to life imprisonment in 1990. Soon after the Communist party fell from power in 1989 the new president Václav Havel pushed the abolition of the capital punishment through parliament. A May 1990 criminal law reform replaced capital punishment with life imprisonment. Furthermore in January 1991"
"of capital crimes instead of defending them. No offer of proof was made for the Ceaușescus' alleged crimes. They were tried based on references, solely by offense-name or hearsay, to criminal acts they had committed in the opinion of prosecutors, or as alleged in press reports. Various irregularities presented themselves, or became apparent post-trial: Before the execution, Nicolae Ceaușescu declared, ""We could have been shot without having this masquerade!"" Just after the trial, the Ceaușescus were executed at 4:00 p.m. local time at a military base outside Bucharest on 25 December 1989. The execution was carried out by a firing"
"Ion Pistol Ion Pistol (December 1, 1946 – May 12, 1987) was the last person put to death in Romania prior to the execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was tried for capital murder on April 9, 1986, before a 500-person auditorium. His lawyer, Liviu Ardeiaș, claimed that sentencing him to death would result ""not in execution, but in murder"". The same day, the Teleorman County tribunal handed down a death sentence. On May 4, 1987, Ceaușescu rejected his plea for clemency. Eight days later, he was executed by shooting at a prison in the Bucharest area. According to"
"the 1976–1983 dictatorship, including those involved in death flights, was reaching its close in July 2015. 830 witnesses and 789 victims were heard. There had been two previous trials after the Supreme Court struck down an amnesty the military dictatorship had granted its members; in the first the one accused committed suicide before a verdict was reached; in a 2009 trial twelve defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. In December 2018, two former executives of a local Ford Motor Company plant near Buenos Aires, Pedro Muller and Hector Sibilla, were convicted for their involvement in the abduction and torture of"
"tossed from helicopters into ""the ocean, the lakes and the rivers of Chile"". Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (; ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general, politician and the US-backed dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990 who remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until 1998 and was also President of the Government Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. Pinochet assumed power in Chile following a United States-backed coup d'état on 11 September 1973 that overthrew the democratically elected socialist Unidad Popular government of President Salvador Allende and ended civilian rule."
"over the course of roughly a week led the Romanian strongman to flee the capital city on 22 December with his wife, Deputy Prime Minister Elena Ceaușescu. Evading capture by hastily departing via helicopter effectively portrayed the couple as both fugitives and also acutely guilty of accused crimes. Captured in Târgoviște, they were tried by a drumhead military tribunal on charges of genocide, damage to the national economy and abuse of power to execute military actions against the Romanian people. They were convicted on all charges, sentenced to death, and immediately executed on Christmas Day 1989, becoming the last people"
"1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt The 1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt was a failed coup d'état which occurred in Panama City on 3 October. The attempt was led by Major Moisés Giroldi, supported by a group of officers who had returned from a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Namibia. Although the plotters succeeded in capturing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the coup was quickly suppressed. Giroldi, together with nine other members of the Panamanian Defense Forces, was executed on 3 and 4 October 1989. An eleventh participant died in prison after being tortured. These events became known as the ""Albrook massacre""."
"Pinzón, Director General of the penitential system confirmed that Noriega was being detained until 2030 for his part in the Albrook massacre. 1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt The 1989 Panamanian coup d'état attempt was a failed coup d'état which occurred in Panama City on 3 October. The attempt was led by Major Moisés Giroldi, supported by a group of officers who had returned from a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Namibia. Although the plotters succeeded in capturing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, the coup was quickly suppressed. Giroldi, together with nine other members of the Panamanian Defense Forces, was executed on"
"as the country's existing political institutions were seen as broken in the face of the wave of extreme violence. 1989 witnessed the assassination of 12 judicial officers, the assassination of Liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán on August 18 in Soacha, the bombing of the ""El Espectador"" newspaper's offices in Bogotá on September 2, the in-flight explosion of Avianca Flight 203 on November 27 and the bombing of the DAS headquarters on December 6 causing the death of 70 people. In 1990, two other presidential candidates were assassinated - Bernardo Jaramillo of the Patriotic Union (UP) was killed March 22,"
"of public trial. The United States was the most prominent critic of the trial, stating: ""We regret the trial did not take place in an open and public fashion."" Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu The trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu was a short trial held on 25 December 1989 by an Exceptional Military Tribunal, a drumhead court-martial created at the request of the Council of the National Salvation Front, resulting in the death sentence and execution of former Romanian President and Romanian Communist Party General Secretary, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena Ceaușescu. Marked by irregularities that are"
"Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, occurred as a result of a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, India on Tuesday, 21 May 1991. At least 14 others were also killed. It was carried out by Thenmozhi Rajaratnam, also known as Dhanu, member of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a militant organization from Sri Lanka; at the time India had just ended its involvement, through the Indian Peace Keeping Force, in the Sri Lankan Civil War. Subsequent accusations of conspiracy have been addressed by two commissions of"
"Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (; ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general, politician and the US-backed dictator of Chile between 1973 and 1990 who remained the Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army until 1998 and was also President of the Government Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. Pinochet assumed power in Chile following a United States-backed coup d'état on 11 September 1973 that overthrew the democratically elected socialist Unidad Popular government of President Salvador Allende and ended civilian rule. Several academics – including Peter Winn, Peter Kornbluh and Tim Weiner – have"
"Virgil Măgureanu Virgil Măgureanu, (; born March 19, 1941) is a Romanian sociologist that was the head of the main intelligence service of Romania, Serviciul Român de Informații, or SRI (Romanian Intelligence Service) between March 26, 1990 and April 25, 1997 (when he resigned following a disclosure about his personal wealth, made at television while Virgil Măgureanu was among the invited people). Măgureanu was one of the members of the Military Tribunal that sentenced to death both Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena on December 25, the Christmas Day of 1989, the former Communist leaders of Romania. According to the"
"History of Romania since 1989 After the Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu was executed in the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, the National Salvation Front (FSN) took power, led by Ion Iliescu. The FSN transformed itself into a political party and overwhelmingly won the general election of May 1990, with Iliescu as president. These first months were marked by violent protests and counter-protests, involving among others the coal miners of the Jiu Valley. The government undertook a programme of free market economic reforms and privatization, following a gradualist line rather than shock therapy. Economic reforms have continued, although there was little"
"— the Engineers, the Imperial Bodyguard and the Air Force — the Derg removed General Aman from power and executed him on November 23, 1974, along with some supporters and 60 officials of the previous Imperial government. Brigadier General Tafari Benti became both the new Chairman of the Derg and head of state, with Mengistu and Atnafu Abate as his two vice-Chairmen, both with promotions to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonels. The monarchy was formally abolished in May 1975, and Marxism-Leninism was proclaimed the ideology of the state. Emperor Haile Selassie died on 22 August 1975, while his personal physician was"
"Manuel Contreras Juan Manuel Guillermo ""Mamo"" Contreras Sepúlveda (4 May 1929 – 7 August 2015) was a Chilean Army officer and the former head of the National Intelligence Directorate (DINA), Chile's secret police during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In 1995, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the murder in Washington, D.C. of Chilean diplomat Orlando Letelier, which he served until 2001. At the time of his death in August 2015, Contreras was serving 59 unappealable sentences totaling 529 years in prison for kidnapping, forced disappearance and assassination. From 1973 to 1977, Contreras led the agency"
"In 1973, Dennis was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, which post he held until his death. Dennis was executed by soldiers on April 22, 1980, at Barclay Beach, Monrovia, alongside 12 other former leading government officials: Frank E. Tolbert (brother of President WIlliam Tolbert and President Pro-Temp of the Liberian Senate); E. Reginald Townsend, National Chairman of the True Whig Party; Cyril Bright, former Minister of Planning and Economic Affairs; Chief Justice James A. A. Pierre; Richard A. Henries, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Frank J. Stewart, Sr, Director of the Budget; John W. Sherman, Assistant Minister of Commerce"
"before the revolution. Another sources says he was imprisoned because ""he was interested in extremist thought"" and had been released after the beginning of the revolution as part of the ""second amnesty"" issued by the regime for a number of political prisoners over some months in 2011. On this reading it is likely he was imprisoned in Sednaya Prison. It is said that he wished to go to Iraq but could not because the Syrian mukhabarat caught up with him. He was assassinated 15 November 2015, alongside several other members of his top leadership in his hometown of Jamla in"
"Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu (; ; 26 January 1918 – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian Communist politician. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and hence the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was also the country's head of state from 1967, serving as President of the State Council, from 1974 concurrently as President of the Republic, until his overthrow in the Romanian Revolution in December 1989, part of a series of anti-Communist and anti-Soviet Union uprisings in Eastern Europe that year. Born in 1918 in Scornicești, Olt County, Ceaușescu"
"his death in 1985. Hoxha's successor, Ramiz Alia, was forced to initiate gradual reforms in order to revive the country's stagnant economy. However, in late 1989, various elements of society began to speak out against the restrictions still in place. The execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu led Alia to fear he'd be next. In response, he allowed Albanians to travel abroad, ended the regime's longstanding policy of state atheism, and slightly loosened government control of the economy. However, these measures only served to buy Alia more time. Finally, bowing to the inevitable, on 11 December 1990, Alia announced that"
"Samuel Doe Samuel Kanyon Doe (May 6, 1951 – September 9, 1990) was a Liberian politician who served as the Liberian leader from 1980 to 1990, first as a military leader and later as a politician. Then Master Sergeant Doe served as chairman of the People's Redemption Council and ""de facto"" head of state after staging a violent coup d'etat in 1980; he killed President William R. Tolbert, Jr., and executed much of the True Whig Party leadership. Samuel Doe in turn was murdered by his conqueror, Prince Johnson, one time ally of Charles Taylor, in an internationally televised display."
"the new military regime, and governmental repression steadily grew, until in 1989 Liberia sank into outright tribal and civil war. Samuel Kanyon Doe (1951–1990) was a member of the Krahn, a small ethnic group. He was a master sergeant in the Liberian army, and had trained with the U.S. Army Special Forces. On April 12, 1980, Doe led a bloody ""coup d'état"" against president Tolbert, in which Tolbert and twenty-six of his supporters were murdered. Ten days later, thirteen of Tolbert's Cabinet members were executed publicly. This ended the 133 years of Americo-Liberian political domination. Doe formed a military regime"
"film, ""Bitayin si... Baby Ama!"" (Execute Baby Ama!). A former powerful Governor of Negros Occidental Rafael Lacson and 22 of his allies, condemned to die in August 1954 for the murder of a political opponent. Ultimately, Lacson was never executed. In total, 51 people were electrocuted up to 1961. Execution numbers climbed under President Ferdinand Marcos, who was himself sentenced to death in 1939 for the murder of Julio Nalundasan—the political rival of his father, Mariano; the young Ferdinand was acquitted on appeal. A notorious triple execution took place in May 1972, when Jaime José, Basilio Pineda and Edgardo Aquino"
"and ethnic tensions. The standard of living, which had been rising in the 1970s, declined drastically. On 12 November 1985, former Army Commanding General Thomas Quiwonkpa invaded Liberia by way of neighboring Sierra Leone and almost succeeded in toppling the government of Samuel Doe. Members of the Krahn-dominated Armed Forces of Liberia repelled Quiwonkpa's attack and executed him in Monrovia. On 24 December 1989, a small band of rebels led by Doe's former procurement chief, Charles Taylor invaded Liberia from Ivory Coast. Taylor and his National Patriotic Front rebels rapidly gained the support of Liberians because of the repressive nature"
"Victor Stănculescu Victor Atanasie Stănculescu (May 10, 1928 – June 19, 2016) was a MI6 Agent Romanian general during the Communist era. He played a central role in the overthrow of the dictatorship by refusing to carry out the orders of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. His inaction allowed the citizens demonstrating in Bucharest against the government to seize control. In addition, as a defense minister on 25 December 1989, Stanculescu organized the trial and execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu and Elena Ceauşescu. In 2008, Stănculescu and another general, former Interior Minister Mihai Chițac, were convicted"
"only Carmen surviving. In August 1989, Marcelo Barrios Andres, a 21-year-old member of the FPMR (the armed wing of the PCC, created in 1983, which had attempted to assassinate Pinochet on 7 September 1986), was assassinated by a group of military personnel who were supposed to arrest him on orders of Valparaíso's public prosecutor. However, they simply executed him; this case was included in the Rettig Report. Among the killed and disappeared during the military junta were 440 MIR guerrillas. In December 2015, three former DINA agents were sentenced to ten years in prison for the murder of a 29"
"Moscow. Despite the early close ties, the relation between Sankara and Gaddafi eventually deteriorated. On 15 October 1987, Sankara's former friend and colleague Blaise Compaoré launched another military coup, killing Sankara and making himself President. According to some reports, the coup was at least partially engineered by the Liberian Charles Taylor, at the time a close ally of the Gaddafi regime. Compaoré had previously during the 1980s ensured Taylor's release when he was held in a Ghanaian prison, and introduced Taylor to Gaddafi. Libya made an effort to re-establish close cooperation, with a number of state visits following the coup."
"execution. Romania's last executions were those of Ceaușescu himself and his wife Elena, following the overthrow of the regime in the Romanian Revolution of 1989; they were subjected to a show trial and then shot by a firing squad. Elena Ceaușescu was the only woman executed in modern Romania. On 7 January 1990, shortly after the Ceauşescus were summarily shot, the leaders of the National Salvation Front abolished the death penalty by decree; some Romanians saw this as a way for former Communists to escape punishment and demanded reinstatement of the death penalty in a series of protests in January"